What Is the Difference Between Home Depot And Lowes

Home Depot, Inc. (HD) or Lowes Companies Inc. (LOW) has dominated the home improvement retail sector in the United States for many years. Together, they operate around 2,200 locations with a combined retail space of more than 100,000 square feet.

The same market pursued by both shops, but they have different branding and supply-chain tactics. The typical Home Depot location will have roughly 105,000 square feet of indoor space by 2020, in addition to approximately 24,000 square feet in the outdoor area for gardening supplies.

With an average enclosed space of around 112,000 square feet plus about 32,000 square feet in garden space, Lowes stores are significantly bigger.

Home Depot ran 18 automated distribution centers in the United States and one in Canada in 2019.

In contrast, Lowes runs 7 facilities in Canada and 15 mechanized regional distribution centers in the United States.

Nearly all of Lowe’s automated distribution centers were already operational when Home Depot began its modernization effort in 2007, supporting the notion that Lowe’s had long held a logistical benefit over its rival.

Key Points

  • Home Depot and Lowe’s are the largest or second-largest home improvement retailers in the world, respectively.
  • They compete for customers in the U.S. and Canada.
  • Both businesses are dedicated to enabling seamless customer transitions between offline and online channels.
  • In order to increase profitability, Home Depot is expanding its distribution network, whereas Lowes coupons must have closed underperforming locations to enhance its bottom line.

Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc. has been a more recent market entrant despite having a greater market value. Home Depot established in 1978, and Lowes in 1946. In each of the 50 states, plus DC, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, & Mexico as of February 20, 2022, Home Depot has 2,303 locations.

Home Depot’s final seven big-box stores in China were closed in 2012 after an unsuccessful expansion attempt.

The management of Home Depot has made supply chain modernization one of its top priorities. Home Depot has a long history of having a poor reputation for having an inefficient supply chain, relying mostly on a fragmented supply chain where vendors sent goods directly to Home Depot stores.

This decentralized strategy did have certain benefits, but it also had some serious downsides, like the need to employ big trucks to transport relatively little product. Home Depot, however, started a modernization effort in 2007 that included a move to a consolidated network of distribution hubs.

Home Depot made a bold $1.2 billion investment announcement in January 2020 to create enormous distribution facilities all over the United States in order to strengthen its distribution management. The business anticipates that this new type of distribution facility, known as a Flatbed Distribution Center (FDC), will hasten the supply of building and construction supplies to the consumer.

Home Depot estimates that same-day or next shipping will enable them to reach 90% of its clients in the United States. The company completed an 800,000-square-foot FDC in Dallas in 2020, and in the upcoming years, it plans to create 40 additional FDCs in its 40 major markets.

Lowes

While Lowe’s has also experienced phenomenal growth throughout its history, the company has had trouble keeping up with Home Depot, which has led to the closure of underperforming stores. In the United States and Canada, Lowes operates 1,973 locations as of October 29, 2021. It operated 2,152 stores in 2018, therefore this is a decrease.

The business declared in 2016 that it would end its partnership with Woolworths Limited to run home improvement Australian stores.

Lowe’s announced in November 2018 that it would close 51 locations in the United States and Canada. This came after the business’s earlier-in-the-year announcement that it will close its 99 Orchard Supply Hardware locations & distribution facility.

Just 10 years after entering the Mexican market, Lowes closed all 13 of its locations there in 2019.

The necessity to liquidate locations and modify its business model was attributed by management to errors in inventory control that led to low same-store sales. The company, which has introduced a new leadership team in an effort to increase profitability, is concentrating on expanding both online and brick-and-mortar sales at its U.S. stores.

Key Differences Between Home Depot and Lowes

Home Depot and Lowes look to be less alike inside their respective locations. The stores of Home Depot have a black and orange color scheme on tall shelves, the highest of which can only reached by forklifts. The store appears to oriented toward professionals in home remodeling thanks to its industrial appearance. The appearance of Lowe’s stores is noticeably different. They frequently have more extensive floor displays and themed products, such as patio sets and holiday decor items, and they use a blue and white color scheme.

Home Depot and Lowes see themselves as competitors with the same customers while having different brands. Management from both organizations divides these clients into two basic categories: retail and professional.

Special Points to Consider

There are two different sorts of retail customers. So-called “do-it-for-me” (DIFM) retail customers are more inclined to spend more for installation services. And are less likely to complete tasks on their own. On the other hand, DIY retail clients favor purchasing raw materials and finishing their projects independently.

Professional clients range from independent contractors to project managers. Their requirements necessitate more sophisticated services, like the capacity to deliver orders directly on construction sites.

A Home Depot and Lowe’s have comparable but not identical strategic aims in chasing this shared client base. The desire to serve a consumer base. That is Increasing activity online is a key goal that both businesses do share. Both Home Depot and Lowes dedicated to letting customers switch between offline and online channels without any difficulty.

For instance, a consumer might find the item. They want it on the business’s website and make arrangements to have it delivered to their local store. Or, in the instance of a business client. They can locate a product in-store or make arrangements to have it transported to their place of business.